There are many reasons you may seek therapy. You may come because of issues with relationships, work or self-esteem or you may seek help with feelings of depression, anxiety, or grief. You may be in a major life transition with the birth of a baby, loss of a loved one, divorce, or a diagnosis of illness. You may wish to find more meaning in your life or to address feelings of emptiness. Whatever your motivation for coming to therapy, it is my goal that our work together may help you to:

· come to know yourself better
· recognize your innate strengths and natural wisdom
· help to heal deep wounds and trauma
· recognize and change patterns that no longer serve you
· create more satisfying relationships with yourself and others
· live a more vital, creative and fulfilling life.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy offers an opportunity to explore your emotions and experiences in a safe and supportive environment, where difficult and painful awarenesses can be faced and worked through. This in-depth work can be transformative- allowing you to understand the meaning of your symptoms; to challenge negative beliefs and patterns; and to think about and tend to your own growth and well-being. Psychotherapy can lead to insights and profound changes resulting in a more meaningful and satisfying life.

The length of treatment may vary. Occasionally short-term supportive therapy may be appropriate to help with specific issues, particularly during stressful decision-making times or life transitions. The work of psychotherapy generally evolves over a longer period of time in order to realize the greatest potential for sustained transformation.

My Approach To Therapy

It is my experience that every relationship in therapy is unique and that people grow and change in a variety of ways, hence, I have trained in a variety of treatment modalities and work in whatever way is most effective for each client. Therapy is a collaborative process and together we discover what best serves your needs. As your therapist, I offer you a safe, compassionate and respectful environment for you to bring whatever is on your mind.

Much of my psychotherapy training has been psychoanalytic which means that I am oriented to paying attention to both the conscious and unconscious material that you bring. It has been my experience that this depth approach helps to bring about lasting change and transformation. My goal is to help you learn to listen more deeply to yourself, and to develop a more creative, curious and attentive relationship with your internal life.

Treatment Modalities that Inform My Practice

Mindfulness- Based Psychotherapy:

Mindfulness Based Psychotherapy refers to psychotherapy informed by the insights of mindfulness. Essentially mindfulness means bringing conscious nonjudging attention to whatever is arising in one’s internal world and external world. It means being fully aware of what is happening in each moment without any effort to change the experience. It implies bringing a fresh or “beginners mind” to one’s moment-to-moment, and cultivating an attitude of acceptance.

This orientation is very helpful in therapy as it focuses awareness on what is happening in each moment without any effort to change the experience. Developing the capacity to just “be” with things as they are encourages an attitude of open, relaxed acceptance. A mindfulness approach reduces stress and relaxes habitual tensions by cultivating a capacity for calmness in the midst of inner or outer turmoil. It helps foster self-reflection, awareness and emotional equanimity as well as greater compassion for self and others.

Jungian Depth Psychology:

A primary aim of Jungian psychotherapy is to establish an ongoing relationship between consciousness and the unconscious. Jungian theory understands the psyche as having an innate drive toward balance and wholeness, which tends toward healing itself.

The archetypes are fundamental psychic patterns common to all humans. An archetypal approach to treatment considers these universal patterns of consciousness common to all beings in all cultures. Individuation is a fundamental Jungian concept emphasizing the goal of becoming whole (as opposed to being perfect), which implies integrating the unconscious or shadow side of oneself.

Creativity is regarded as a fundamental instrument of self-healing by paying attention to the symbolic communication from the unconscious. Active imagination, painting or writing may all deepen this relationship. Jungian-oriented work may explore the individual psyche through the medium of dreams, art, mythology and fairy tales.

Object Relations Theory:

The focus in Object Relations is our very early, pre-verbal life and experiences, and how we have internalized these experiences. "Object" refers to a person, especially the significant person that is the object of one’s feelings, and "Relations" refers to interpersonal relations and suggests the residues of past relationships that continue to affect a person in the present. It is often helpful to understand our approach to current relationships and outlook on life through the lens of these early formative experiences.

Family Systems:

From this perspective families are systems of interconnected and interdependent individuals who cannot be understood in isolation from one another. Family rules, roles and boundaries are considered along with concepts such as triangulation and cut-offs. This approach helps to identify particular roles and functions that we take on in our families and communities, and consider their effect.

Non-Verbal Therapies:

Expressive therapies offer an avenue for exploring the nonverbal symbols and metaphors that are communicated within the creative process. Art therapy may utilize creative writing, drawing, painting, sculpture or photography to express symbols and metaphors that may be difficult to express in words or in other avenues. Other modalities such as sculpture or sand tray work may give expression to the “waking dream” in which hopes, memories, fears and conflicts may be expressed in a three-dimensional form that previously had no language.

Please Note: My practice is currently full and I am not accepting new patients at present.